Still Here
by Ghost501
Summary: Percy is lying on the lawn of a familiar house. But what is he doing there? More importantly, why does it look so familiar to him?


Only one more week until House of Hades comes out! In honor of this occasion, I will be releasing two chapter of Calling all Demigods this Friday. As long as no one dies, the story should still be intact. Can't wait for some new inspiration from the new book!

* * *

He woke up to the sound of crying. Slowly, he gathered his senses. He was in the lawn of some unknown family, staring up at the midnight sky. It had looked so beautiful to him, but for some reason he had failed to find Zoe's constellation this time, a star formation he could always find even on a cloudy night. As he got up and turned his head, Percy realized that the wailing was coming from the small house behind him. He had the faintest memory of the small building, but his ravaged mind couldn't place where he had seen it.

He found himself walking towards the house, almost drawn by it. He couldn't control his feet. It was if they demanded that he discover the secret of the tortured soul. As Percy stepped closer and closer, the crying multiplied. One, two, three, four people? All of the wails sent shivers down his spine. What had happened to make these people cry so much? Did someone die?

As Percy reached the door, his arm shot out and pushed it opened. It had been left unlocked? What kind of family leaves the door unlocked for just anyone to come in at this time of night. Then again, what was he doing lazing around on stranger's lawn this time of the hour? His legs acted on their own again and he stepped to the inside.

When Percy walked into the house, he felt an overbearing feeling of dread. His throat began to close up and it was getting harder to breathe. He knew this house from somewhere! He just had to remember! But he couldn't. His mind blocked the location and the owners of the home from his mind. It was if his subconscious knew something that he didn't. And it was going out of its way to make sure that he would remain in the dark.

Percy rounded the corner and suddenly felt like he had been smacked in the face by a ton of bricks. In front of him was the crying family of his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. As Percy looked at the grieving family, one of the smaller boys picked his head up. Bobby wasn't it?

The child's face morphed from that of sorrow to that of anger. "What are you doing here?!" He snarled.

The rest of the Chase family turned to face Percy, who was surprised by the sudden hostility towards him. He hadn't remembered doing anything to offend the Chase family. Was it the April fools? Was Annabeth playing a prank on him?

Speaking of whom…

"Where's Annabeth?" Percy asked. When he was met with a right cross by Mr. Chase, he learned that that was the wrong question to ask.

"How dare you speak her name?! You know I thought you were different than the others. I thought you loved her, Jackson! But no, you just had let her go. You couldn't protect her. Sure you went with her to Tartarus, but you failed her when she needed you. Instead of sacrificing yourself, you let my daughter take your fall! You should have been to lock the doors! You should have been the one to be left down there to die! Not her!" Mr. Chase barked.

Percy had never seen the professor so upset. But his mind was reeling too much to make sense of it all. Annabeth gone? No, this didn't make sense. He didn't remember any of this!

Percy ran out of the house and continued running until his legs could no longer carry him. When he stopped, he realized that he had no idea where he was. In a few minutes, he found a park and rested on a bench. This couldn't be possible. There's no way that this could be possible. There was no way that he would let her die. He would kill himself before giving her the opportunity to be in any kind of danger.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when a cold hand rested on his shoulder. As he turned his head, it instantly whiplashed as another punch scored its hit across his face. As he picked himself up from off the ground, he turned his head and gasped. The attacker was none other than Annabeth Chase. As Percy stared at his friend, he realized that he could see right through her. But how did she punch him? Somehow, Annabeth had found a way to defy the physics of being a ghost because she climbed on top of him and continued to punch him, "You jerk! I thought you loved me! But no, you were the one who went to the other side! You left me to die down there! I hate you, Jackson! I hate you!"

And as the punches came, Percy found himself feeling them less and less. He even began hating himself. If Annabeth was this mad, he knew that he could have only done the impossible. He had left her in Tartarus. He had been the only one to escape. He had betrayed her. And he was getting the very punishment he deserved.

* * *

"Percy! Percy! Wake up!" Percy felt his eyes open as the shaking began to stop. He turned his head to see Annabeth in the dim light that was in Tartarus. She wore an annoyed look on her face, which evaporated as soon as he hugged her tightly. He wasn't letting her out of his sight. He wasn't going to let her die. Not while he was still alive.

* * *

Annabeth hadn't been expecting Percy to seem almost shocked to see her alive. In fact, she had been annoyed with the raven haired boy since he had refused to get up. He had been mumbling in his sleep a bit, but it was nothing more than what she had been accustomed to. He had a habit now of mumbling in his sleep, but Annabeth had learned that it wasn't any reason to get worked up about.

His dreams ranged from food to her, so she wasn't always interested about his mumblings. His latest dream though seemed to grip him in fear as he wrapped his arms around her and embraced her tightly.

"Percy," she managed to push him back a bit to see the fear in his sea green eyes, "what's wrong."

"You were…I was…not fair…I should've been the one." He could barely make a sentence. Annabeth had never seen Percy this upset about his dreams. But from the information he had given her, she bet it had something to do with her. And it hadn't been pretty.

"Hey," she said taking a hold of his face, "hey, look at me. I'm okay. I'm right here in front of you. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not dead. It's okay. It's okay." She wrapped him in her own hug as he began to cry. She hated to see Percy this upset; although she was touched that she meant this much to him, she hoped that her life wouldn't end with in this pit. Just the thought of her dying seemed to destroy him.

They stayed there for a while. Annabeth whispering comforts to Percy as he rocked them back and forth. To say that Tartarus had been unkind to them physically and mentally would the understatement of the year. But to say that the experience had only strengthened their love for each other would be right on the money.

Annabeth would die for this boy and Percy would die for her. Each couldn't imagine life without the other. And as they both got up to journey to the Doors of Death, both made it a point to tell the other that they were in this together and that nothing would be able to separate them. Not even death.


End file.
